Nick Fillmore

Award-Winning Journalist

An award-winning investigative reporter and a founder of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), Nick was a news editor and producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for more than 20 years.

One of the founders of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), he was involved in helping press freedom organizations in developing countries for several years.

Early in his career, Nick was publisher/editor of The 4th Estate newspaper in Halifax, worked with Reuters in London, Canadian Press in Toronto, and was one of the editors of THIS magazine. Nick is also the author of Maritime Radical: The Life and Times of Roscoe Fillmore.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Nick’s main organizational experience involved leading the creation of the now 95-member International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX). He also has helped organize campaigns against repressive regimes in many under-developed countries, and was one of the main organizers of the Catch 22, aimed at defeating Conservative candidates in the last election.

I contend that divestment activities are not effective enough, particularly because it is likely to take many years for the campaigns to have meaningful impact - in the meantime, the climate will be damaged beyond repair.

A report from the Public Policy Forum of Montreal released on January 26 says the Canadian news industry "is reaching a crisis point as the decline of traditional media, fragmentation of audiences and the rise of fake news pose a growing threat to the health of our democracy."

At a time when countries around the world are phasing out coal operations, the Investment Fund is holding billions of dollars in coal operations. Canada is far behind in meeting its carbon reduction obligations, and burning coal is the single greatest threat to our climate.

Canada is far behind many other countries when it comes to meeting its carbon reduction targets. Canadians probably believe that our major environmental groups are busy lobbying and pushing the federal and provincial governments to do much more. But no, this is not the case.

Ninety-nine young environmental activists achieved their goal on Parliament Hill on Monday by carrying out acts of civil disobedience. As conditions worsen, civil disobedience is a growing response to the lack of government action on climate change and the full-speed-ahead attitude of the fossil fuel industry.

Former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper apparently isn't satisfied with having destroyed a lot of wonderful and important things in Canada. Now he has signed on with Dentons, the world's largest elite law firm, to spread his dark viewpoints around the globe.

Finding a new host for The National should not be the CBC's main goal. CBC should address the fact that neither The National nor any other CBC news program is trusted very much by the public. The content of CBC News programs is just like programming at mainstream media, and the public doesn't like either.

Given the financial difficulties faced by athletes, you would think the Canadian Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee would provide every dime possible to sports bodies to provide funding. Not so. In fact, both are guilty of greedily spending millions of dollars on themselves while struggling athletes scrambled for a few bucks to get to Rio.

It is time for the WSF to seriously evaluate itself and its place in the world. The movement has lost some of its radical edge over the years. Organizers have given in to some extent to the influences of government and the corporate world -- initially the group's main enemies.

Police departments across the U.S. need to be radically changed. Brutally racist officers, often working in teams, thrive in too many departments. A massive effort is required to weed out as many racists as possible and rehabilitate those capable of changing.

An analysis of Canadian mainstream media's reporting of U.S. President Obama's visit to Vietnam recently was so biased that stories may as well have been written by the White House. Just about all traditional media provided Washington's pre-packaged message to the Canadian public.

Over the years I've been fortunate enough to hear some of North America's top investigative journalists speak at conventions and other venues. The men and women I've met and heard speak have made an amazing contribution to society, protecting democracy and uncovering corruption.

Mass media is the main place where people should be learning of the threat ahead. Largely because of inadequate reporting by mass media, most Canadians are not well enough informed or angry enough to demand action by government and non-renewable corporations.

I contend that the decades of poverty, the murder of more than 1,000 women, the many youth suicides, and the general degradation of a race of people deserve equal attention to the aid and love being bestowed on Fort McMurray. Why is one crisis receiving massive support while another is getting little attention?